DEDICATION: This is dedicated to my good friend Danyelle.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh nor do I own 'Taxi' written by Harry Chapin, where I got the inspiration for this fic. At the end of the fic Ill include the real lyrics to the song 'Taxi'.

Joey drove his cab down the streets of Domino. No longer was he the blonde haired child of before, but now a life hardened drug user. He studied the streets though his bloodshot eyes, bouncing from one person to the next. Absentmindedly he ran a hand over his coarse, unshaven face, wondering if he should buy some 'company' tonight.

He glanced at the mirror and pushed it aside after seeing himself. It had become his one weakness. He hated how he looked and what he had become, but he could never change. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he had become his father. Joey glanced down at his tattered dirty clothes and shook his head sickened at him self.

He looked back out his cab window as the rain poured down. It had been another hard, long, weary day and even though Joey had said how much he hated it, he was already mentally at home taking a hit from one of his many prerolled joints.

"Anotha day, anotha dollar," Joey mumbled to himself, looking at the money he had earned today. "Hmmm… one more ought to do it for the evening…"

Joey glanced out the window and saw a woman waving down a cab just ahead. He smirked slightly, glancing up at the luxurious building she had come out of, and thought that this money bag should do it for the evening.

As he slowed down Joey had to check the woman out, and frowned slightly as a flash of familiarity came over him. The woman was a beautiful blonde with dazzling eyes and a nice figure. Her dress, which was now clinging to her body from the rain, was clearly ruined, but it didn't detract from her beauty in the slightest. Joey smiled as the woman opened his cab door and got in.

He shook his head slightly as a feeling came to him. Joey hadn't felt this in a long time. The urge to be nice to a complete stranger. After he had started drugs, Joey had been living life watching out for only himself and screw everyone else. Yet here it was returning to him. With a shrug Wheeler gave into it.

"So where you going to, my beauty in blue?" Joey asked with a small smile. "It's a shame you ruined your dress in the rain."

The blonde woman stared out the window sadly and said, "Sixteen Park Side Lane."

Joey nodded and started up the cab, pulling away. But he couldn't stop staring at the woman in the mirror. She stared out the window in a sad state of thought, her face and expression just was so… so familiar. Perhaps a magazine or a movie star? Joey sighed and shook his head trying to remember. Finally he glanced back at the woman during a red light.

"Excuse me ma'am. You look so familiar. Have I seen your beautiful face before?"

The blonde didn't break her gaze from the window as she said "Sir, I'm sure you must be mistaken.

And she didn't say anything more.

Joey sighed and shrugged, focusing on the driving, glancing back every now and then. Finally the woman's head moved, and she glanced in the mirror. He watched her eyes as they trailed from the reflective glass, to his cabbie license. Slowly a smile crept up on her face. Joey could tell it was a small sad smile, but it was a smile none the less.

"How are you Joseph?" she asked.

Joey smiled slightly. Only one person called him that.

"How are you Mai?"

"You remember me?"

"There's been too many miles and too little smiles, but yes, I remember you."

Joey looked back at his old friend as the memories returned. It had been ten years since he had seen her, and in those ten years… things had gone down hill very fast. Shortly after the Dartz fiasco and the KC Grand Prix, Joey had taken into smoking weed to ease his sorrow. Yugi and the gang had tried to stop him, but Joey had shut them out. Dropping out of the duelist scene, he had taken up whatever jobs he could to support his growing addiction to drugs. And from that route, led to his current job as a Taxi driver.

"You were going to be an actress," Joey mused looking back at Mai.

Mai nodded. "And you were going to learn to fly."

"Yeah well…" Joey sighed. "Mai, you took off to find the footlights and I did try to learn to fly…"

Mai nodded understandingly, and didn't say anything. Joey stared in the mirror, as the feelings of his past rose through him, burning at what he had become. For the first time in the longest, he had regretted the way things had gone. Every smoke and every night drunk and stoned in a gutter or alley… he was regretting them all.

He turned to Mai, trying to figure out what to say to dissipate the burning emotions in him, but nothing came out. With a sigh the two drove on in silence.

Joey stared out the window in a bitter rage at himself and what he had become. Maybe… maybe if he hadn't done all of this… maybe if he had stayed clean and hadn't become a dreg on society, this wouldn't have happened between him and Mai. Joey sighed in sorrow, giving one final glance back at Mai, and felt whatever they had had was now gone…

Joey slowly turned into her driveway, admiring her large house and the trimmed lawn. Mai gave him a gentle smile as she got out of the cab, and tousled his hair slightly.

"Joseph… it's been too long. We must get together again."

"Yeah Mai. We need to see each other again," Joey admitted, feeling in his gut that they it would never be arranged.

Mai nodded sadly and handed Joey a twenty dollar bill. She glanced at the meter which read 2.50, and then back at him.

"Joey, keep the change."

Joey looked from the twenty to Mai as various feelings and thoughts went through him. He knew that he should be angry. He knew that he should be hurt. Hell, Joey even felt in his heart that he shouldn't let her go. Instead Joey stuck the bill in his shirt.

"Goodbye Joey."

"Goodbye Mai."

Mai walked away in silence and Joey pulled back out of the driveway and left. With a glance in the mirror he shook his head in sorrow.

"Mai… it's funny," Joey said out loud. "It's strange… but in a way we both got what we wanted… Such a long, long time ago…"

Joey stopped at a red light, and wiped away the tears which were now falling from his eyes. He looked back at Mai's house as one of the rooms on the upper floor lit up.

"Mai… You were going to be an actress… and I was going to learn to fly…" Joey whispered between sobs, not bothering to wipe the tears away now. "You took off for the footlights… and I went for the sky…"

Joey pulled over and got out of his cab, looking up at Mai's house.

"And there you are Mai… acting happy… inside your handsome house…"

Joey shook his head and wiped his tears away, climbing back into the cab and driving slowly away.

"And here I am… flying in my Taxi… taking tips… and getting stoned… and I go flying so high… when I'm stoned."

TAXI

Written by: HARRY CHAPIN

It was raining hard in 'Frisco,
I needed one more fare to make my night.
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,
She got in at the light.
Oh, where you going to, my lady blue,
It's a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.
She just looked out the window, and said
"Sixteen Parkside Lane".
Something about her was familiar
I could swear I'd seen her face before,
But she said, "I'm sure you're mistaken"
And she didn't say anything more.
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,
And she glanced at the license for my name.
A smile seemed to come to her slowly,
It was a sad smile, just the same.
And she said, "How are you Harry?"
I said, "How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
and the too little smiles
I still remember you."
It was somewhere in a fairy tale,
I used to take her home in my car.
We learned about love in the back of the Dodge,
The lesson hadn't gone too far.
You see, she was gonna be an actress,
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off to find the sky.
Oh, I've got something inside me,
To drive a princess blind.
There's a wild man, wizard,
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind.
Oh, I've got something inside me,
Not what my life's about,
Cause I've been letting my outside tide me,
Over 'till my time, runs out.
Baby's so high that she's skying,
Yes she's flying, afraid to fall.
I'll tell you why baby's crying,
Cause she's dying, aren't we all.
There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.
And she said we must get together,
But I knew it'd never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change."
Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go...
I stashed the bill in my shirt.
And she walked away in silence,
It's strange, how you never know,
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off for the sky.
And here, she's acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I'm flying in my taxi,
Taking tips, and getting stoned,
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned.